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Suarez return to lift Uruguay

19 June 2014 04:33

England coach Roy Hodgson said Luis Suarez's return for Uruguay will boost the South American nation at the FIFA World Cup.

All the talk of Uruguay's campaign in Brazil has centred on the left knee of the Liverpool attacker, and his availability became all the more relevant when Costa Rica stunned Oscar Tabarez's men 3-1 in their Group D opener.

The 27-year-old is expected to line up against Hodgson's men in Sao Paulo on Thursday, a month after surgery to repair the meniscus in his left knee.

Suarez trained on Wednesday ahead of the highly anticipated clash with England, in which he will encounter several of his Premier League opponents and team-mates.

Hodgson said the clutch fixture - with the loser all but eliminated from knockout-stage contention - will see Uruguay lift given the addition of Suarez but added his defenders are capable of stopping the Premier League golden boot winner.

"We believe Luis Suarez will come back and that will be a big boost for them, not just as a player but as a sort of confidence booster for the whole team," Hodgson said.

"Of course we would like to think that as a team we can keep him quiet but I'm sure he's got other ideas.

"We know how good he is. We know what he can do and our players will have to make certain - like they do when they play against Liverpool - that they deal with it."

Hodgson was quoted as saying England's obsession with Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney was 'sad', and when quizzed on his chances of starting against Uruguay, the coach was unsurprisingly withdrawn.

"As you know, in all the time we've been together I never give teams away before I've spoken to the players," Hodgson said.

"At the moment, the players don't know what team I'm going to select on Thursday, so I've got no intention here, unfortunately, of saying he will or he won't play."